One needs to play sleuth
with some releases from Brilliant –
especially those derived from licence
from Gostelradiofund in Russia. The
plethora of Richter releases, both commercially
and more problematically off-air or
in-concert, has been the cause of a
certain amount of confusion, to put
it mildly. So it may be helpful to distinguish
what you are getting – or aren’t getting
– from this set of five live CDs. I
should add a rider; I’ve not been able
to listen to any previous incarnations,
if such exist, of any of these performances
and am relying on the written and aural
evidence of the performances allied
to discographic information and Richter’s
notes, some of which have been published.
It’s a minefield out there for Richter
admirers.
Taking things in disc
– not necessarily opus – order and we
have the following. Op. 90 claims to
be Moscow 10/1/65 but I suspect this
may be a typo and that 10/10/65 is meant
instead which would place it on the
same Moscow concert as Op.110. The concert
performance of Op.90 from the latter
date has been issued by Russian Masters
[RM 17]. If this hunch is wrong then
I make this a previously unknown live
concert performance. Meanwhile Op.109
from 1972 was once on defunct Revelation
RV10096 as was the A flat major Op.110
and Op.111. Op.7 was on a Music &
Arts set CD775 [4 CDs], Opp.31/2 and
31/3 have made an appearance on Yedang,
and Op.2 No.3 is on that Music &
Arts set. Op.101 seems not have been
released before. It’s from 10/10/65
and isn’t the commercial Philips recording
from the following year. Op.101 is again
from 10/10/65. I believe this was released,
crucially minus its first movement,
on Russian Masters. To interject some
Liszt we can note that it was taped
two days after Op.101 - that means that
it’s not the same as the 18/10/65 performance
that was once on Russian Masters RM05.
Finally – at last – to the Schubert;
D960 seems to be 31/11/61 but mightn’t
it be 13/11/61 which hasn’t seen the
light of day; D575 is from the 12/10/65
recital already cited and is not to
be confused with the 1966 live Philips
commercial disc taped in Florence. The
Schubert sonatas contained on the last
disc are also the most recently recorded
– they come from May 1978 and I don’t
believe have ever been released commercially
before.
The foregoing demonstrates
the complexity of the Richter discography;
the questions of attribution, duplication
and the like are seemingly never ending
but one thing is unarguable and that
is the quality of his musicianship throughout
the entire length of these five well-filled
CDs. Yes, sound can be cramped and airless
and Brilliant has preserved enough applause
to show that it’s a live concert but
not enough to allow one to appreciate
it; it fades after about four seconds
every time. But against that one must
measure the playing which is often on
a sovereign level. To take some examples
almost at random; the tonal verticality
he evokes in the first movement of Op.90
and the beautiful sustaining both of
tempo and tension in the slow finale
of Op.109. This is playing that never
postures; its control is absolute or
as absolute as it can be. If the recording
is clangy, and it is, we can still appreciate
the phrasal sensitivity and the accent
shaping of a profound mind at work.
Then there is Op.110
which he once said was the only work
I’ve played without really wanting to
albeit he did admit that his teacher
Neuhaus had taught him his singing tone
as a result of teaching it to the young
Richter. Whether he believed in it or
not – and he never played the entire
canon, he only played twenty-two of
the sonatas – we can hear the off-kilter
Allegro molto second movement and
the luminous Fuga, one he builds and
sculpts with inexorable logic. It’s
hard to reconcile his reported comments
on his own performance of Op.111 with
the recorded evidence, other than to
note that an artist must always strive
beyond his own capacities; I’m sure
I must sometimes have played this sonata
reasonably well but of all the recordings
that have been made of it, not
one of them is any good. Famously
self-critical though he was I find his
playing powerfully interior, digitally
remarkable, and the Arietta bursts into
momentary sunshine like the sudden blaze
of a Turner.
One admires too his
work in the earlier sonatas; the raindrop
drip treble in the slow movement of
Op.31 No.2 where the left hand is wrought
with rarefied simplicity and apposite
weight of touch. Or the grazioso elements
of its opus companion, No.3; here he
articulates the finale with incredible
brightness and briskness The Adagio
of Op. 2 No.3 is genuinely introspective
and sustained with inexorable control
whilst in a late work such as Op.101
the sudden agitato of the second movement
March is accompanied by a dramatic heavy
booted stomp.
Turn to the Liszt and
you hear quite a deal of pedal, and
a gloomy, sepulchral opening – deliberately
opaque and brooding that gives way to
great chordal tension. Occasionally
there can be a slight lack of differentiation
in phrasing but his chords are as deep
as a chasm and full of colour. There
are some huge contrasts along the way
and any slips are minor when measured
against his powerful engagement. The
driving, introspective and exultant
are held in fine equipoise. About his
Schubert one may note reservations about
the slow opening movements of D 894
and D 960 but not, I think, about the
musical mind behind those decisions.
I happen to find that of D960 problematic
but the intense and affecting slow movement
compensates and the Scherzo is full
of fresh air and the finale is taken
at an incisive clip. There will be similar
objections to D894 but that cantabile
is, despite its heroic length, sustained
with inner logic and conviction, qualities
much in evidence in his Schubert playing
elsewhere.
The booklet notes are
devoted to the music. A brief page about
Richter doesn’t address any of the discographic
questions noted above. And as I’ve mentioned
the sound is very variable. But the
playing far outstrips considerations
of this kind; if you have the Music
& Arts 4 CD set you will still need
to investigate this one because a large
amount here will be new to you. It’s
assuredly not the most comfortable place
to start one’s Richter quest – I wouldn’t
advise novitiates to start here anyway
– but to those who admire him it is
a profoundly satisfying set.
Jonathan Woolf
Sviatoslav Richter (piano) 
